When
Mario Costa Santos first entered the
Brando Barbosa Palace, he was faced with history before his eyes: the original architecture, the furniture and, most importantly, the collection of sacred art belonging to the couple
Jorge and Odaléa Brando Barbosa were all there, preserved and full of artistic meaning and value. Bringing all this to the public was the mission of the professional – and of
CASACOR Rio de Janeiro –, but it had to be done in an original way and, above all, respectful of the memories of the place. Despite being an art specialist, mainly because he is the son of researcher
Janete Costa , Mario did not take on the project alone and called on Heloisa Amaral Peixoto, researcher and director of the
HAP art gallery , to help curate his space, which was named
the “Contemplation” Art Room. A private art gallery
The 64 m² space had a difficult layout: there are 11 doors, a 5.5 m ceiling height and only one free wall to work on. However, it is a noble space: located in the middle of the mansion, the room was used as an entrance by the Brando Barbosa couple, a place where they received visitors and from where guests went to the living room or dinner.
Five of the doors open onto the garden, with views of the fountain, the nature of Rio de Janeiro and even Christ the Redeemer. With such a privileged view, the space could not function only as a passageway, it needed to be a place to stay:
from the sofa or the dining table, the idea is to contemplate the exteriors, the architecture and all 37 works of art scattered around. "I wanted to present an exhibition as if it were inside a house, not a museum. So, one painting can be placed on top of another. One work can be placed slightly above another. The lighting is that of a house, not a museum. The books are not decorative, they have covers and titles and were chosen by us," said Mario Costa in an interview with Patricia Mayer, managing partner of CASACOR Rio.
Devotion as a guiding principle
The starting point for the curation was photography. "It's an art form that people find very easy to reach," explains Heloisa. There are 16 images by various artists such as
Miguel Rio Branco ,
Pedro Moraes and
Paul Vergé . On the other hand, there is only one painting: the one by
Antônio Poteiro , one of the greatest names in Naive art in Brazil. And everything dialogues with the concept of devotion and art, moving between baroque pieces, contemporary design and popular culture.
Mario Costa Santos – Sala de Arte “Contemplação”. Inspirado no movimento Slow Living, que valoriza o tempo e o apreço aos detalhes, este ambiente possui décor leve, confortável e pensado para despertar sensações. No mobiliário, cadeiras de Sérgio Rodrigues e peças contemporâneas de Jader Almeida contrastam com os detalhes originais da arquitetura eclética da casa. As obras de arte trazem um interessante mix de estilos que vai do barroco das estátuas que pertencem ao acervo da residência à arte popular de Veio, passando pelas fotografias de Miguel Rio Branco e instalações de Hilal Sami Hilal. A curadoria é de Heloisa Amaral Peixoto. (André Nazareth/CASACOR)
From the house's original collection, a silver rosary and religious images are displayed on the coffee table. The irreverent touch comes from the
Keith Haring engraving next to it. "Odaléa was witty," explains Heloisa about the choice.
Another popular religious reference is the heads made by
Mestre Irinéia : the ceramicist from Alagoas made her first head at the request of a believer who wanted to make a promise to his devout saint to cure his severe headaches. The grace was achieved and, today, Mestre Irinéia sculpts several human figures in his work. At CASACOR, the heads were joined by cobogós with hand drawings signed by the
Campana Brothers .
Design as a complement to art
The only free wall in the living room has a great advantage: it receives natural light directly from the windows that look out onto the garden. Because of this, it has a 6-meter-long bookcase designed by
Jader Almeida that houses most of the works. Empty spaces between the pieces create breathing space. The furniture was installed on a floating panel so as not to damage the original wall of the house - especially because after the end of CASACOR Rio de Janeiro, the mansion will be used as the Brando Barbosa Institute. The clean design of the bookcase enhances the pieces and even its ladder serves as a support for a painting.
In the dining area, the 3m table is divided into two: one area where books and objects are placed for reference, as if in a museum. And another part that displays the wooden sculpture signed by the artist Véio - notice that even the chairs are different in each section.
In the background,
Hilal Sami Hilal 's mural creates a scene and draws attention to the height of the room. Suspended above the table,
Jorge Mayet 's tree also draws the visitor's gaze upward. Both pieces also draw attention to the house's original ceiling - all worked, it is yet another work of art to be admired.
Check out the interview with Mario Costa Santos and Heloisa Amaral Peixoto for Patricia Mayer below. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CNDycoVDOox/[newsletter]
